Play Life, Live Games: Game simulators have come a long way

Thursday

Have you ever wanted to be a commercial airline pilot? How about drive a big rig through the Alaskan wilderness?

Simulation games have been a popular staple in the video game industry for decades, especially on PC. In recent years, though, the genre has become very diverse.

One of the strangest simulation games to come out recently is “PC Building Simulator” for the PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Switch. A lot of PC gamers like to build their computer, tailored specifically to their gaming needs. If that sounds fun to you, this game will let you do that over and over and then test it out to see how your PC runs. It even includes officially licensed PC components.

The number of simulation games is so varied that there’s almost certainly one that would pique anybody’s interest.

“Robot Vacuum Simulator” could be the perfect game for those of you who have to keep your home spick and span. In the game, you play as a Roomba-like vacuum and you have to clean up the entire house while contending with limited mobility options and an inability to navigate stairs.

If you want to do some cleaning but want a little more excitement, then the somewhat grossly named “Viscera Cleanup Detail” might be more up your alley. You’re essentially part of the janitorial staff on a space station that has to clean up after a large alien force attacks. The levels look like they’re ripped directly from a “Doom” game, which makes it even more hilarious.

There are also a lot of simulation games that let you experience life as an animal.

“Catlateral Damage” lets you pick what kind of cat you want to play as and then sets you loose in a house or business, with the goal of knocking as many items on the floor as possible in the quickest amount of time. This game is even compatible with the PSVR headset. There’s definitely something cathartic about knocking a large stack of fine china off the table while in VR.

These games just scratch the surface of the simulation titles available. If you’ve ever wanted to build space rockets, drill for oil, be a street sweeper, flip a house or perform open heart surgery, there’s a game for that.Dusty Ricketts is the editor of The Destin Log and The Walton Sun newspapers and can be reached at dricketts@thedestinlog.com.

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